


Michelle Barnes

by HopeTheWasp



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF Michelle Jones, F/M, How Do I Tag, M/M, Parent Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28842738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeTheWasp/pseuds/HopeTheWasp
Summary: Two people joined Hydra years ago, not really knowing what they were getting themselves into. Years later they fell in love. That was the final straw.They ran way from the organisation, staying hidden for some years. Unfortunately, by the time Hydra found them, they already had a baby girl.The girl grew up in Hydra, experimented on to be given superpowers, and trained to be a lethal assassin.Years later, she's broken out by the Winter Soldier.It's just a mediocre thing where MJ is Bucky's adopted daughter
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	1. How It All Began

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a fic, so apologies if it's bad. Feedback on what you thought of my story and how I could improve would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you for reading.

Running from Hydra is a difficult, nearly impossible task without amazing skills or powerful connections. Michael and Emily had no connections outside of the organisation, and didn't have the skills necessary to evade them. Running was honestly quite a stupid decision, but love tends to make people pretty stupid sometimes. Hydra wouldn't approve of any relationship between two agents, they knew that. And so, they waited to be sent on a mission together. When that time came, they simply left. Just walked away, as if anything to do with Hydra is ever that easy.

To their credit, although it may have overall been quite a bad plan to just run away and wing it from there, it took Hydra four years to find them. Plans were made for agents to storm the house Michael and Emily now lived in, and take them back to Hydra. After that they would be tortured to death in front of each other. They were expecting a few things to happen on this mission. They expected Michael and Emily to fight back, they expected one of them to attempt to sacrifice themselves for he other. They were not, however, expecting to find a month old baby girl crying in a crib. When they asked what to do with her over the radio they were told 'Bring her back or something? I don't fucking know!'. So that's what they did.

Seven years later, in 2008, the young girl was introduced to the man who would train her to become another of Hydras weapons. An agent shoved her into the cell with the Winter Soldier before stomping away down the corridor, leaving a small child to try and figure out how to introduce herself to the worlds deadliest assassin. All things considered, it went surprisingly well.

"Hi, I'm Michelle." She said, sitting next to the soldier on the dirty floor and extending her small hand for him to shake. He looked at her curiously. Here was someone, a child no less, who was not afraid of him, and seemed to be attempting to talk to him. After a second of consideration, he gently shook her hand.

"So, why are you here?" He asked her.

"They said you're going to train me."

"I know that, but why are you in here at all." He said, vaguely gesturing at the walls surrounding him, "What's a little girl doing in Hydra?"

"I've just always been here. I've heard them say my parents were traitors."

"Michael and Emily. So how've you got a name? You've been here since you were a baby and names aren't exactly Hydra's priority."

"There was a nice lady called Alice, she was here before. She gave me extra food and told me stories about outside. She had a sister called Michelle, said I look like her. Eventually she stopped coming, but I kinda just named myself Michelle after that. What about you? What's your name?"

"My name..." He didn't know, he doesn't have one. does he? Did he used to have a name... before... before what? Before Hydra? He can't remember a time before Hydra. "I don't really have a name. I think I might've at some point, but... I don't really know anything about myself." He probably shouldn't be opening up to someone about this, but she's only seven, what could she do? Besides, it was nice to have someone to talk to.

"That's a shame. I've just never not been here, were you someone else before?" _Dammit_ , he thought to himself, _why the fuck are kids so inquisitive! No, don't shout at children, they're just naturally curious and talkative. Wait, since when do I know so much about children? Did I know a child before?_

"Yeah, I think I was someone else before. I don't really remember. I think... you kinda remind me of someone. Be- Becky? Becca, yeah Becca. She was... my sister? I miss her, kinda strange 'cause I don't even remember any specifics really, just a vague idea of who she was." 

"Tell me more about what you can remember, maybe then you can remember more. What's it like outside?"

"That's a pretty vague question, Michelle."

"Yeah well your entire memory is pretty vague, get over it. I just wanna know everything I can!" 

_Jesus Christ, why is this child so sassy?_ He sighed, then, after a second of thought, he answered the young girl beside him.

"Well, one of the first things I remember is running about with Becca and this little guy called... Steve, I think it was?"

They talked for hours. New memories resurfacing,and Michelle eagerly listening to any story he had to tell, no matter how dull. These memories wouldn't stick around for long, eventually they would put him back in the chair. But perhaps Michelle could remind him of the things he'd told her. Perhaps things could get better. Maybe not for him, but he knew. He would do everything in his power to make Michelle's life better in any minuscule way he could.


	2. Freedom?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky returns to save Michelle from Hydra. They set out to start a new life.

Michelle winced as she raised herself up from the cracked floor, leaning on her bleeding hands. She lent back against the dirty brick wall behind her, feeling as if she had barely enough energy to breathe, yet still reaching across her tiny cell to pick up the rock she had diligently sharpened every day for months until it was sharp as a dagger. She wouldn't have any chance actually using it as a dagger, of course, the guards far outnumbered her, and they had guns. As the old saying goes, never bring a sharp rock to a gunfight.

She reached her hand up and dug the rock into the wall, scratching another tally mark beside the others littering the bricks. "109 days since Dad left." She sighed to herself. They'd moved her to a smaller cell now that he was gone. No matter how much she told herself that he wouldn't just leave her, hope was beginning to fade away that she'd ever see him again. As far as the Hydra agents know, he's alive, but that's pretty much all the information she has. He somehow survived being in a helicarrier while it was blown to smithereens but if anyone could do it, it would be him. They'd found the gun he'd been carrying left by the side of a river. That was the only trace of him.

The day continued like any other. Alone, with only her thoughts to keep her company. Praying to whatever being still gave a shit about her that she wouldn't be dragged away for more experiments, more injections that felt like fire running through her veins. Or taken the opposite direction down the dreary corridor. To the torture room. To teach her to handle pain, not crack under interrogation, or sometimes for no reason at all. Perhaps she'd even be sent on another mission. Perhaps she'd end the day with even more blood on her hands.

Before, her Dad would be waiting in the cell when she returned. She'd be thrown in by the guard, too weak to stand. He'd sit there, not even looking at her, emotionless, until he was sure the guard had left. Then, he'd do his best to comfort Michelle. Every time he made the same promise.

"I swear, one day I'm gonna get you out of here, I promise. We'll watch this place burn to the ground together. You'll never have to go back."

Tears began to run down Michelle's face as the memories of her Dad overwhelmed her. Her mind ran through thousands of possible scenarios of what might've happened to him. Was he dead? Does he just not care about her? Does he even remember her? Does he think Michelle can handle herself? Think she can escape Hydra without his help just because she has powers? Yeah, she does have powers, but what good would fire be against 50 guards with guns. Besides, they'd taken great care in fire proofing the building anywhere close to where she might be.

Many of Michelle's thoughts were incorrect. The long forgotten hopes that her dad would be able to protect her from anything, the childish ideas that the Hydra agents told her the truth, the lies she told herself that if she cooperated, they wouldn't hurt her. But one of the least accurate ideas she'd had was that her dad had forgotten her, or abandoned her, or simply didn't care. It had been a few months since the disaster on the helicarrier, and he had a slightly better idea of who he used to be. He wasn't sure if he was still that person now, or if he could ever be that person again. But those questions could wait until after his daughter wasn't trapped inside a Hydra facility. 

Bucky silently moved through the dense evergreen trees surrounding the building. Soon enough he could see the cold stone walls that haunted his nightmares. Wasting no time, he ran to the steel door at the back of the facility. In about thirty seconds Bucky was inside, creeping through the dark halls. He had the route memorized, funny how he can remember the cause of his excessive trauma better than his family. Oh well, he can deal with that later. Soon enough, he was standing outside Michelle's cell. They'd moved her to a smaller one, he noticed. At least she's asleep, not sobbing or whatever she does these days. He's not sure he could handle that right now. He lightly banged his metal hand against the bars of her cell twice, and her eyes opened.

"Dad? You came back for me?" She asked, quickly sitting up. A lock of her frizzy brown hair hung in front of her face, obscuring one of her dark eyes. Eyes that held so much emotion, emotion no 13 year old should feel. Tragedy no person should be subjected to.

"Of course I came back. Just like I promised. We're getting out of here." He snapped the heavy padlock off with his metal hand before opening the door for Michelle.

Tentatively, as if she's unsure whether this is some cruel hallucination her mind created, as if she thinks this may be some trick, she takes a step through the iron bars that previously trapped her. The disbelieving grin that spreads across her face breaks Bucky's heart while simultaneously filling him with joy. She's finally free, she has a chance of a life. But, no, this shouldn't be some amazing thing, not being trapped within Hydra's cruel walls. It should've been this way all along. She never should've had to live this life. She never will again. Bucky's sure of it.

"You bring a gun for me, or am I punching my way out?" She smirked. Bucky sighed and handed her the gun he'd brought for her. As annoyed as he may act, her sass was nice. She wasn't the robot Hydra tried to make her. Michelle quietly listened as she's told the plan to get out of the building.

"Then once we're out-"

"Fire?" Michelle interrupts him, hopefully. She knows full well that about a quarter of the building won't catch, but the satisfaction of watching flames engulf her prison has been the center of her dreams nonetheless.

"Yes, you can set it all on fire." He sighed, "I've raised a pyromaniac."

"Perhaps. That argument can wait though. Lets go."

30 minutes later, the two had made their way to a hill overlooking the building. Michelle ran forward to the edge of the cliff, Bucky shortly behind her. She had run all the way since they had stepped through the metal door, her first time outside, the sun on her face. They stood side by side on the grass, Michelle knew what to do. Hydra had taught her how to use her powers. She watched in glee as flames licked up the sides of the cold building that was her prison. Unfortunately, they couldn't stand and watch the fire for long. everyone would be running out of the building as the fire spread, and they couldn't risk getting caught. So, they made their way down the cliff, walking several miles, before stealing a car. 3 days later, they'd arrived in New York City. 

The base they were running from was in Alaska, they could've easily tried to start their new life within the state, or in Canada, but Bucky made the decision to live in NYC. He'd given a few reasons, 'It's a good idea to get further away from the base', 'A big city makes it easier to hide'. Those excuses might've been small factors in his decision, but he chose it because of Steve. His 'best friend', yeah he hasn't fooled Michelle with that lie about his feelings for 6 years. With Steve living with the Avengers in their tower, Bucky living in NYC would mean he'd be able to keep an eye on him, and make sure he isn't running into certain death... again. If they ever did come into contact with the Avengers, he would most certainly be having a stern conversation with Steve about risk and recklessness.

A while later, the two assassins were living in a small apartment in Queens, Bucky had a job, Michelle was preparing for her first day of school. They were getting their chance at a normal life.


	3. School and Star Wars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michelle goes to school and makes some friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm Scottish, so sorry if I make any mistakes regarding American schools.
> 
> There are some Star Wars spoilers in this chapter. More specifically the prequels.

Michelle absentmindedly twirled a pencil between her fingers, after a few attempts that ended in her dropping it she'd gotten the hang of it. It was lighter and thinner than a knife, but the fundamental motion of spinning it round were the same. She'd been in school a few weeks now, and had concluded that Wednesdays were fucking terrible.

"Hey!" The boy next to her whispered, poking her arm that was resting on the table. They'd chatted a few times before, sometimes lending each other stationary, chatting when they got bored, she didn't know his name though. She caught the pencil and turned to look at him. "I'm Peter Parker by the way. We've jut been talking for a while an i thought you should know. Who're you?" _Why the fuck do you need to know that? Do you work for Hydra?_ She took a second to look at the boy next to her. Yeah, he's more likely to be a velociraptor than a Hydra agent.

"Michelle Jones. I'm new here."

"Yeah I noticed, since you weren't here last week. Sorry, didn't mean to be rude, just- sorry I'll shut up." Michelle smiled. Socialising was nowhere near the top of her list of priorities for the day, but a friend could be nice.

"Don't worry about it. Your rambling was kinda entertaining, more than class anyway." Peter relaxed knowing that he hadn't driven her away within a minute of introducing himself. They spent the rest of the class talking, paying little to no attention to the teacher. They knew pretty much all of what they were being taught anyway. Eventually the lesson was over, and it was time for lunch.

"Hey, I was just wondering if you wanted to sit with me and my friend Ned. Not to be rude, but you don't really have any other friends. Not that we are friends if you don't want to be, if you hate me that's completely fine!" _He rambles a lot. It's kinda cute- NO!_ If Hydra finds them they'll have to leave, she can't get attached. But just eating lunch with them can't do much harm, right?

"Hi, I'm Ned. It's nice to meet you," he peered over the table at her notebook with her initials written on the front of it, "MJ."

"Nice to meet you too. My name's Michelle by the way."

"Eh, MJ sounds cool. Imma call you that." He grinned at her before turning to Peter to discuss some movie.

Michelle quietly ate her chicken sandwich and listened to them talk about some plan to build a real life lightsaber, whatever that was.

"What on earth is a lightsaber, and is it deadly? If so then, A: I want one, and, B: I do not trust either of you with one at all."

"You've known me for like half an hour! I could be very responsible for all you know!" Ned argued.

"Why are you ignoring the fact that she hasn't seen Star Wars!" Peter exclaimed. _What the fuck is so important about some fictional wars?_

"Is anyone going to tell me what Star Wars is, or am I just supposed to know?"

"The best movies ever!" Ned exclaimed

"We could watch them at my house? Every couple weeks Ned and I have a sleepover and watch a movie anyway, I'm sure Aunt May wouldn't mind you joining!"

"You live with your aunt? Are your parents dead too?"

"Um... no one's ever really said it so bluntly before, but yeah. It was a plane crash, what about yours?" _Oh yeah, they died horrible gruesome deaths at the hands of a secret organisation that gave me superpowers. I have a feeling I'm gonna have to lie about this._

"I don't actually know, I was only a month old when it happened, then my dad adopted me when I was around seven."

"I feel like the only mentally stable one in the group!" Ned sighed, maybe he's right. It may not be the most conventional thing to connect with new friends over, but Michelle enjoyed their short conversation on the demise of their parents.

"Well, lunch is about to end, but could you ask if you can come over for a sleepover on Saturday so we can watch Star Wars?"

"Sure." Michelle smiled, school was going better than expected.

"Dad, I have friends!" Michelle announced as she entered the apartment.

"Wait, what!"

"Were your hopes really that low for me?"

"Socialising didn't really seem like your strong suit. I was more expecting you to excel in gym or something."

"I couldn't be bothered so I just kinda didn't participate."

"I should probably be disappointed, but honestly, I'm somewhat impressed."

"Thanks. But anyway, about those friends I made."

"You're absolutely sure they din't work for Hydra or have any idea who you really are?"

"It's practically impossible."

"If you think there's anything off about them, you stop talking to them and tell me. Got it?"

"Yeah Dad, I know. Anyway, Peter invited me over for a sleepover on Saturday to watch some films with him and Ned."

"If I say no you're just going to sneak out anyway aren't you?"

"Most likely. You wouldn't be worried 'cause you'd know where I was, you'd just be kinda annoyed."

"I hate you sometimes."

"If I'm that much of a burden it can't be that hard to just let Hydra find me." Bucky sighed and went back to the book he was reading. Michelle smirked and went to do her homework.

"Is there going to be a rather large collection of sparrows joining us to help eat this, or is diabetes the goal?" Michelle said, raising her eyebrows at the large pile of snacks on the coffee table in front of them. Her, Peter, and Ned were sitting together on Peter's grey couch, ready to start watching A New Hope.

"Oh, come on! No movie night is complete without copious amounts of food!" Peter argue. Michelle chuckled, before reaching forward to grab the remote and start the movie.

"So who was your favorite character?"Ned asked her, once they had completed all the movies. It was either really fucking late, or really fucking early, depending on how you looked at it. Aunt May had gone to bed and just instructed them to maybe try and get a little bit of sleep, and not to be too loud.

"Anakin. I relate to him a lot," _Yeah, I'e also killed people. Including children! You two don't need to know that._ "Children are annoying an sand is inconvenient. Once I was running on a beach and nearly fell over 'cause of the stupid sand." _Yeah, the person I was there to kill nearly got away!_

"I like sand. You can hide things in it and find things in it! Sometimes the things you find are lost, sometimes they've been intentionally hidden by someone and are a bloody knife buried in the sand." Ned said.

"There's a story behind that isn't there?" Michelle asked.

"Yep." Peter responded, he's heard the story before. 

"Well, that took a turn." Michelle commented. "Do you have any possibly traumatic stories for me to know about?" She asked Peter.

"Not yet, I'll tell you if something happens." _Please do, I don't want you to get hurt._ Michelle sighed. Yep, she cares about them now. Brilliant. Oh well, it can't go that badly. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I aim to post a new chapter every Saturday and I cannot express how annoyed I am that I got this posted the second after it turned midnight.


	4. The Spider Guy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's hiding something and Michelle is worried about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty bad at descriptions, so sorry if my description of Michelle's outfit in this chapter is bad.

There is definitely something going on with Peter.

He thinks he's hiding it. He's really not. Randomly disappearing after glancing at his phone, bruises and scars with no explanation as to where they came from before disappearing abnormally quickly. 'Extracurricular activities' he never goes into any detail about. _You're gonna get yourself killed trying to go fight crime in your onesie Peter. What am I gonna do if I lose you?_

It was early January, snow blew around the streets and Michelle had her hands stuffed into the pockets of her black hoodie. She glanced to the alley across the street and saw a group of guys, 5 of them. 3 with knives, two with guns. Behind them she could see Peter in his ridiculous spider outfit, backing up trying to get out of the situation alive. _You fucking idiot Parker. If I get shot, it's your fault._

Michelle crossed the street and pulled her hood lower, obscuring her face. She crept into the alley, they hadn't noticed her. Good. One of the knife dudes took a step towards Peter but before he could harm him he was cut off by flames. He stumbled backwards in shock. Everyone turned to Michelle, who was clearly in control of the fire. She gestured for them to leave, which they quickly did. The flames shrunk closer to the ground. The fire disappeared, leaving no evidence it was ever there.

"Uh, thanks for that." Peter said awkwardly, "Your powers are pretty cool, if you ever wanna help people, I wouldn't mind some company? You could be a superhero if you wanted!" _I'm not any kind of hero._ Michelle shook her head at Peter's suggestion. Maybe she'd save a few lives, help some people. The offer to be able to use her abilities for good, rather than the destruction Hydra had her cause was tempting. But she'd inevitably set something in fire, burn someone. She'd cause more harm than good. Besides, being able to conjure fire wasn't a particularly common trait. Hydra could find her. She turned around and began to walk away.

"Hey, uh- in case you change your mind!" He held out a small slip of paper with what was presumably his phone number scribbled on it. _I already have your number dork._ She put it in her pocket and walked away, leaving Peter to hopefully finish the day without any more near death experiences.

"You've been staring at that piece of paper for about five minutes now. Is it about to attack you, or is there something absolutely fascinating about it?"

"No, just... a tough decision." I _t shouldn't be a decision. If I do this, we could both be in danger._

"What is it?" Bucky sat down net to Michelle on the worn grey couch.

"No. It's too risky."

"Well I can't give you my opinion on it if you don't tell me what's going on."

"Y'know that spider guy that showed up recently?"

"Yeah, the idiot jumping off buildings and stuff?"

"Yep. There were some guys in an alley, looked like he was about to get shot or something. I stepped in. They didn't see my face, don't worry. But then spider guy asked me if I wanted to help him."

"Do you want to?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Why can't you? Don't let people see our face and you should be fine."

"And what about when Hydra hears about this? They'll know it's me, not like it could just be a very skilled arsonist or something. What then?"

"Just don't let them follow you back here, just because they find another vigilante doesn't mean they have to fin Michelle Barnes. I know we came here ready to leave at a moments notice, but we've both gotten more attached than we meant to. Like it or not New York is our home now, and we're not gonna leave unless we absolutely have to." Bucky smiled at her. "We have a home now. We have a life. We have everything they told us would always be out of reach. And we're not leaving it behind." 

A few days later Michelle was sitting at the kitchen table, a phone in her hand, ready to send possibly the most important message of her life. She was ready, she'd made an outfit to go out in. Black pants and knee high boots along with a black leather jacket and fingerless gloves. She'd sewed a hood onto the jacket that attached with a row of buttons, there was a piece of fabric that hung over her face, seethrough over her eyes, that attached with another row of buttons on the front. She'd finished it with some metallic blue accents on the boots jacket and hood.

She sent a message to the number Peter had given her on the night he gave her his offer. She told him where and when to meet her. _2 hours until I see whether I could really help people._

Michelle sat down next to Peter on the edge of the building she'd told him to meet her on. 

"Oh, hi. I didn't notice you."

"Yeah I'm kinda quiet." He looked at her for a second, "What is it?"

"Sorry, your voice just sounded kinda familiar. Anyway, nice outfit, you really came prepared!"

"Yeah, I've been kinda looking forward to this." 

"Well, shall we get started? My plan was just to kinda sit here and chat until we see something going on."

"Sounds good to me." She smiled, although it was hidden by her mask. Here she was, getting ready to help people and save lives! Now to just wait until something happens.

They sat there for about twenty minutes, on their phones looking at the news and occasionally talking.

"Burning building, half a mile west of here." 

"Lets go."

The two stood outside of the building, flames engulfed it, a crowd of people were about 30 meters left of them.

"Can you put out the fire?" Peter shouted to Michelle over the noise of the crowd.

"I can try, but I might not be able to. Making fires bigger is a lot easier than putting them out. It could take a minute." The fire began to slowly shrink, but the buildings structural integrity was concerning.

"I'll go in, make sure thee's no one else in there. You make sure everyone else is safe." Michelle told Peter.

"That's dangerous. You're just gonna run in a burning building!"

"You've done it before, and my clothes are fireproof. We don't have much time, it's about to collapse."

"Yeah, but it could collapse with you inside, this is inane!"

"I've been through worse." Michelle decided she'd wasted enough time arguing, if here were people still in there, she needed to go now. 

Michelle ran into the building, her vision was obscured by the fire and smoke. She coughed as she breathed in smoke. _I'm a fucking idiot._ The fire may not be able to burn her, but inhaling smoke is still a bad fucking idea. A piece of the ceiling a few meters ahead of her crumbled and fell, through the hole she could see someones foot, scrambling away from the gap in the floor. Michelle ran towards he stairs, taking them two at a time. They crumbled behind her as she made it to the first floor. Michelle dashed into the room where she saw the person, trying her best not to inhale too much smoke.

When Michelle entered the room she could see a woman backing into a corner away from the slowly advancing flames. There was a large window on the wall opposite the door through which Michelle could see a crowd gawking at the burning building. 

"Hey! Are you okay?" _What am I even supposed to do in this situation? I'm not a fucking firefighter!_

"I'm not dead yet." 

"The stairs are gone. We'll have to go through the window." Michelle ran across the room to her. The floorboards creaked under her feet, threatening to give out at any moment. She drove her elbow through the window, shattering it. She peered through, there were some bushes below that would cushion the fall.

"Okay you go first." She said to the woman. The woman climbed through he shattered window, carefully trying not to cut herself on the shards of glass. She'd definitely have a few cuts on her, but at least she's alive.  
  


Once the woman was out of the building and safe Michelle started to climb through the window. She winced as the glass cut her hands but kept going. If there was one thing Michelle knew how to do, it was how to keep going through pain. She swung her leg over the wall and was sitting on the windowsill. Just as she was about to push off and jump form the building it collapsed beneath her. She fell to the ground, thankfully landing in the bushes. She'd gotten pretty lucky, all things considered, although a piece of rubble was on top of her left arm.  
  
  
"Hey! Are you in there?" Peter called out into the destruction in front of him. He ran forward, looking for Michelle.  
  
  
"I'm over here!" Peters wasted no time in making his way over to Michelle and lifting the rubble off of her. 

  
  
"I was so worried! I thought you'd died on the first day and it was all my fault!"

  
  
"No need to be dramatic about it. We should probably go." She suggested. Peter helped her up and they walked away from the building.  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"You"re sure about this whole vigilante thing?" Bucky asked Michelle, they were sitting together watching the news. It was currently covering the fire. Michelle's arm was in a cast, she'd broken it when the building collapsed.

  
"Yes Dad, I'm sure. I got hurt, but I knew this would be dangerous coming into it. It's what I signed up for. I can't turn back now, I could help people."

  
  
"You could also die."

  
  
"I can handle myself. I don't care what you have to say about it, I'm doing this."

  
"I know I can't stop you from doing this, but please be careful out there."

  
  
"I will be."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Hey Ned!" Peter called out to his friend as he entered though the window. It ha been a few days since the fire.

  
  
"Hey. How's the new girl? Looked like she got hurt pretty bad in that fall."

  
  
"It looked worse than it really was, just a broken arm and some bruises. She's still helping me out sometimes, but not always."

  
  
"Makes sense, she'd want a chance to rest after that. Do you ever wonder about who she is? We could probably find out if we wanted to."

"No, she trusted me. An I feel bad about her arm. She'd be fine if I didn't ask her to join me."

"Not your fault, how many times do i have to say it? The news is talking about her by the way? They're wondering who she is."

"I said she's my partner."

"You're absolutely sure we can trust her?"

"Yes, stop with the paranoia!"

"Sorry, I just worry about you. You trust easily, and I don't want someone to take advantage of that."

"I'll be fine, I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that this chapter is late. I was sick and wasn't able to get it done on time. Sorry if it's not great, I rushed it a bit.


	5. Secrets

It wasn't a good night.  
  
  
Michelle and Peter heard a scream and went to try and help. When they got there all that was left was a woman and a child, both with bullets in their heads. There was nothing they could do but call the police and leave.  
  
  
Now they sat on top of a skyscraper, their legs dangling over the edge, tempting fate. The views were incredible, the most beautiful thing Michelle had ever seen. Working with Spiderman has its perks.  
  
  
"I should've been paying more attention. Maybe if I'd done my job better they'd still be alive!" He looked down at the ground far below them.  
  
  
"There was nothing you could do. Besides, it's not 'your job' to be Spiderman. No one made you put on that mask. You chose to because you wanted to make a difference. And you have, you've saved lives! You can't save everyone, and you need to accept that." Even through the mask she could tell he was crying by the way he shook. Hesitantly, she pulled him into a hug. They sat there for a bit, Michelle's arms wrapped around Peter, Peter quietly sobbing. Eventually they broke apart.  
  
  
"I still could've saved them though."

"IT'S NOT YOUR FUCKING FAULT PETER!" _Why can't he see that?_ "You're the best person I know, and if you still can't see that with all the lives you've saved I don't know what to tell you." Peter looked at her, silent.

"... How do you know my name?" _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shi-_ "I trusted you, why couldn't you just let me keep my secret?"

"It's not my fault you can't keep a secret to save your life!."

"How."

"If I told you how I found out you'd figure out who I am."

"Well you clearly know who I am. Might as well make it fair." Before Michelle could say anything in retaliation, he shot a web at her mask and pulled it off. "Well I'm not sure what I was expecting but it probably wasn't you." He reached up and pulled off his own mask, not really bothering with secrecy anymore. They both know each other's secret now.  
  
  
"Does Ned know?"

"Yeah, he found out a while ago."

"You're pretty terrible at secrets you know. I'm honestly surprised no one has found out and used it against you yet."

"Yet?"

"It's kinda inevitable if you don't get better with secrets."

"Got any advice, since you're the expert on secrets?" Peter laughed, Michelle was glad he wasn't that mad at her. _Why do I care? What's so special about him? Why do I love him?_

"Learning how to fucking lie would be a good start."

"I can lie!"

"What about last week when you seriously tried to tell me you got that bruise because there was a horse loose in the hospital?"

"I panicked okay!" Peter glared at her while Michelle laughed. They sat in silence for a minute before Peter asked a question he'd been wondering for a while.

"Michelle, when I first asked you to do this why were you so hesitant? You seem like you really wanted to?" Michelle looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out a way to answer that wasn't too suspicious but not to far from the truth. She didn't want to lie to him again.

"I... didn't want to attract any unwanted attention." Not technically a lie, just omitting some details.

"Make sense, I'm sure there are plenty people who wouldn't mind getting revenge on me if they had any clue who I really was."

"It's getting kinda late, we should go. Maybe we can talk about this some more with Ned tomorrow?"  
  


"Sounds good."

"-and then the guy tried to throw a brick at me. He literally had a gun and decided that instead of shooting me, he'd just lob a brick at me. Thing is he didn't account for the fact he was not strong enough to hurl a brick 30 meters to hit me. It just fell to the ground in front of him. Idiot." Peter and Ned burst out laughing at Michelle's story of the dumbest bank robbers she'd ever encountered. The three were talking in a cafe near Peter's apartment. It'd been a week since Peter found out Michelle's secret and conversations were a lot more fun now that she didn't have to hide it. There were also plenty of fun stories to recount. 

Michelle glanced at her phone, specifically the news. She tended to check the news often, liking to keep updated on what was going on in the world.

"I have to go." She stated abruptly, standing up and walking away from the table.

"Wait, MJ. You okay?" Ned called out.

"I'm fine Ned." She sighed, this day would come eventually, she'd always known it. "Goodbye." She said to them, before leaving the cafe. Peter ran after her, there was clearly something wrong and he was concerned for his friend.

"MJ! What's going on?" He shouted at her.

"Just leave me alone Peter!" 

"I don't fucking think so." He muttered, following Michelle.

Michelle pulled her phone out of her pocket, surely she'd just read the headline wrong. It was impossible. Yet when she looked at it again, the headline was the exact same as it had been 30 seconds ago.

'Winter Soldier Bombs Vienna.'


	6. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michelle's life falls apart and she makes some edits to the plans she had in place.

Peter was still following Michelle, he needed to know what was going on. He decided to call Ned, he needed any advice he could get.

"Any clue what's going on?" Ned inquired.

"Not yet, I'm following her."

"Something happened that made her eave, we need to know what it was. She was looking at her phone, maybe someone messaged her?"

"She checks the news a lot, is there anything going on?"

"Give me a second. Oh god, the Winter Soldier bombed the UN. They were signing the Sokovia Accords-"  
  


"They were WHAT!"

"Peter, I know you hate those things, but there are more important things right now. He killed the Wakandan king."

"Okay, how the fuck does this affect MJ."

"The accords would force you to reveal your identities, and the UN would decide what you could do."

"Well yeah, but we've had plenty discussions about the accords. Why'd she run?" 

"MJ's always been pretty secretive. Like it or not, we don't know if we can still trust her."

"Ned! MJ's our best friend! Why wouldn't we trust her."

"I wish we could. But how much do we really know about her past?"

"Her parents died when she was young, she was adopted when she was seven."  
  


"And?"

  
"And- uh... nothing. We know almost nothing."   
  
  
"Exactly. I want to trust her as much as you do but she's kinda shady. Keep following her."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Michelle hurriedly shoved the key into the lock and dashed inside the apartment, they'd planned for this. This life they had would shatter eventually, and they'd have to run away and build a new one. When they moved here, she wasn't supposed to get attached, she wasn't supposed to have any hangups about leaving, she wasn't supposed to feel at home here. She wasn't supposed to fall in love. Yet all of the above still happened, and she would have to pay the price. 

Wasting no time, she flung open the kitchen cabinet and grabbed the backpack inside. The plan they had in place had a location for them to meet at. Michelle would wait there an hour, then move to the next location, repeat three times, if Bucky still hadn't met her, survive alone. There wasn't any time from dawdling, every second of wasted time was more risk. Yet Michelle hesitated, glancing toward her bedroom door. She had to go along with the plan, she knew that. But she was distracted by the happy memories she shouldn't have held onto so dearly.  
  
  
"Shit." She muttered, dashing into her small bedroom. She frantically opened the backpack and shoved inside the pile of photos on her nightstand. She sprinted out the front door of the apartment and down the hallway, before slowing to a walk in order to blend in. She glace behind her and was annoyed to see Peter there, this surely wasn't just a coincidence. He'd followed her. He sped up to walk beside her rather than behind her.

"I told you to leave me alone." She glared at him, ignoring the sorrow tearing through her. Leaving New York behind would be so much easier if her main reason for wanting to stay wouldn't follow her.

"I'm not going to, at least not until you tell me what's going on. Here's my theory. You were looking at the news as usual and saw the articles about the bombing. Now what we want to know is how on Earth that affects you such that you'd run away from us." 

"'We' I assume that means you and Ned?" peter nodded in response to her question. She'd always known the two boys were smart, even if their common sense was sometimes questionable. She just didn't expect them to put things together so quickly, she expected to be out of the country by the time they might've realised she was somehow connected to the Winter Soldier. Alas, plans tend to astray. 

"Can you please just tell us what's going on? We can help you with whatever it is!" Peter sounded desperate at this point, scared he'd lose one of his best friends.

Michelle stopped, she'd reached the bus stop she was supposed to wait for Bucky at. "Get lost Peter. I don't care how much you want to 'help me' or figure out whats going on. I'm not putting you in danger."

"I don't care how dangerous it is! I'm not leaving you MJ. I- I love you." 

"God I hate emotions." Michelle muttered, "I love you too Peter. If we end up together again, I would love that. But it's almost impossible. I need to go."

"Surely there's some way you can stay?" _No._

"Listen. Shit's about to hit the fan, I can tell. The Avengers are divided on the accords, and throwing Barnes into the mix is only gonna worsen things. You idolise them, all of them. I know. They're your inspiration for all the amazing things you do. But trust is a deadly weapon in the wrong situations. Don't trust the Avengers, don't trust Tony Stark, trust only the people you truly know can be trusted. Me, Ned, Aunt May. That's it." 

"I can trust you? Then why can't you trust me? What's your fucking connection to the Winter Soldier!" Peter was holding back tears, drowning in his emotions.

"I love you so much Peter. I'd put my life in your hands any day of the week. But that's a secret I'll take to the grave."

"Alright then, I guess we're doing this the hard way-" Before he could finish his sentence Michelle cut him off.

"If you're insinuating that you're going to beat it out of me then I think you'll find that challenging. I've been in more pain than you know, breaking me would be rather difficult." Peter looked shocked at her suggestion, though he was clearly trying to hide it. Peter was never able to hide his emotions, Michelle ha known that since day one.

"I could never hurt you Michelle. If I somehow did I'd never forgive myself for it. I was referring to whether I need to take a look at the Hydra files Ned dug up with your picture on them. We haven't read them yet, we were hoping for the best. But you've not done much recently to support our theories that you or your parents just got involved with some of the wrong people. I want you to be innocent, but if you're not you have to tell me. Did I fall for a Hydra agent?" Michelle was speechless. In the last hour her life had fallen apart, she knew that. She just hadn't realised it'd been on the verge of collapsing for who knows how long. Michelle laughed sorrowfully.

"You told me Ned could hack into anything. Guess I just never expected that to include Hydra."

"Strange definition of everything." Peter felt his phone buzz in his pocket, turning it on to see a text from Ned. "Would you look at that, the Winter Soldier's been arrested. Can you at least tell me if Michelle Jones is even your real name." 

"I- my..." God, she wanted to tell him everything. She can trust him, right? Fuck it. He and Ned could probably manage to track her down even if she did leave. "I'll tell you everything but not here where anyone could hear us."

"My apartment."

"Sure."

Peter was sitting on his bed, Michelle on the chair in front of his desk.

"Alright." Peter said, looking at Michelle. "You agreed to tell me everything. So tell me."

"My real name is Michelle Barnes." 

"Is the last name a coincidence, or are you more connected to the Soldier than I first expected." Michelle sighed. _Time to tell the truth._

"He's my dad. Well, adopted. Lies are easier to tell when they're based on the truth."

"So how much of what you told me is the truth?"

"A lot. Mostly I kept me secrets by just not saying anything. My parents really died when I was young. I have no clue who they were. I just know their names were Michael and Emily, and they were Hydra agents. I met my dad, Bucky Barnes, when I was seven. I- I was an assassin, I worked for Hydra." Michelle sighed, "Actually that' a bit of an understatement, I _belonged_ to Hydra. I never had any choice in who I killed for them. They experimented on me, gave me my powers... they tortured me in the name of making me a better assassin, more resilient. After the helicarrier fiasco he broke me out. We drove through Canada in a stolen car, made our way to New York. I went to school, met you. You know the rest." She'd been looking at the floor while she told the truth, to scared to look at Peter. She looked up at him, vision blurry from the tears welling in her eyes. "If you try and kill me right now I understand."

"Why the fuck would I kill you. Your life was hell, and if they found you it'd surely be even worse than before. Why wouldn't you lie?"

"Peter, you don't understand. I _killed people._ I'm dangerous. I'm a monster." She was staring at the floor again, unable to look peter in the eye as she told him who she truly was. She heard him was across the small room to stand in front of her. She flinched expecting a punch. Perhaps he'd finally realised she wasn't someone worth loving. Against all of her expectations, he leaned down and hugged her.

"It wasn't your fault Michelle. You went through so much, I'm not gonna hate you for it." Michelle stood up, hugging him back. She rested her head on his shoulder, finally letting the tears fall that had been building for so many years. The tears she'd held back for the sake of seeming tough, of living up to the expectations that had been set for her. The expectations she'd been put in so much pain for not living up to. 

She looked at Peter and smiled, so grateful to have someone tell her that no, she wasn't some monster. That she deserved happiness.

"For the record, my dad didn't bomb Vienna. He was in Queens when I left to go to the cafe with you and Ned."

"What were you planning to do before I made you come here?"

"We had a series of locations to wait or each other at in the event that we had to leave. If he wasn't there I'd survive on my own. If you hadn't brought me here, I'd've just gone straight to surviving alone since he got arrested. Plan was to go to Romania."

"What are you gonna do now?"

"I... I don't know."

"Whatever you do, I'd quite like it if we could stay together. Since, you know, we've both just admitted our feelings for each other." She grinned at him.

"Hypothetically, if I asked you to help me break my dad out of prison what would you say?"

"Interesting first date idea. Isn't he in Europe? How exactly do I explain that to Aunt May?" Michelle laughed.

"Fair point, fair point. Guess I'm doing it alone."

"You're actually going to do this?"

"Uh, yeah I think so. Can't be that hard to sneak on a plane, or boat. Then I just need to break into a highly secured facility, get out and stay hidden with probably the worlds most recognisable criminal right now. Piece of cake." She laughed.

"Well, if you have to do this, I'm sure it'd be easier with some sleep and food. You can stay here tonight, I'm sure May wouldn't mind."

"Okay, sleepover tonight, prison break tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan."


End file.
